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opennotspecifiedJan 2020View details →

FIGURES 1‒8 in Two new species of Nealiolus Mason (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Brachistinae) reared from pest weevils (Coleoptera, Curculionidae)

FIGURES 1‒8. Nealiolus chayohtli Wengrat & Shimbori sp. n., ♀: 1‒2, habitus, lateral; 3, head, frontal; 4, propodeum, dorsal; 5, fore wing; 6, metasoma, dorsal; 7‒8, pupal chamber of Phymatophosus squameus in stems of Sechium edule (chayote): 7, after adult parasitoid emergence, through circular exit hole; 8, partially opened chamber showing silk cocoon of the parasitoid and the remains (i.e. cephalic capsule) of the last instar host larva.

Supplementary material 2 from: Hill KGW, Nielson KE, Tyler JJ, McInerney FA, Doubleday ZA, Frankham GJ, Johnson RN, Gillanders BM, Delean S, Cassey P (2020) Pet or pest? Stable isotope methods for determining the provenance of an invasive alien species. NeoBiota 59: 21-37. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.59.53671

Table S2.1; Figure S1. Explanation of methods for determining the optimal sampling size and design, using a power analysis on pilot data

Supplementary material 1 from: Hill KGW, Nielson KE, Tyler JJ, McInerney FA, Doubleday ZA, Frankham GJ, Johnson RN, Gillanders BM, Delean S, Cassey P (2020) Pet or pest? Stable isotope methods for determining the provenance of an invasive alien species. NeoBiota 59: 21-37. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.59.53671

Tables S1.1, S1.2. A detailed description of indexes used for calculating confidence of status of Trachemys scripta elegans individuals

Genomic analyses of a livestock pest, the New World screwworm, find potential targets for genetic control programs

The New World Screwworm fly, Cochliomyia hominivorax, is a major pest of livestock in South America and Caribbean. However, few genomic resources have been available for this species. A genome of 534 Mb was assembled from long read PacBio DNA sequencing of DNA from a highly inbred strain. Analysis of molecular evolution identified 40 genes that are likely under positive selection. Developmental RNA-seq analysis identified specific genes associated with each stage. We identify and analyze the expression of genes that are likely important for host-seeking behavior (chemosensory), development of larvae in open wounds in warm-blooded animals (heat shock protein, immune response) and for building transgenic strains for genetic control programs including gene drive (sex determination, germline). This study will underpin future experiments aimed at understanding the parasitic lifestyle of the screwworm fly and greatly facilitate future development of strains for efficient systems for genetic control of screwworm.

Invertebrate community structure predicts natural pest control resilience to insecticide exposure

Biological pest control has become one of the central principles of ecological intensification in agriculture. However, invertebrate natural enemies within agricultural ecosystems are exposed to a myriad of different pesticides at both lethal and sub-lethal doses, that may limit their capacity to carry out pest control. An important question is how underlying diversity in invertebrate predator species, linked to their unique susceptibility to insecticides, can act to increase the resilience of natural pest control. We explore this issue by assessing the effects of sub-lethal insecticide exposure on the predation rates of 12 generalist predators feeding on the aphid Sitobion avenae (Aphididae). Predation rates within a 24 hr period were assessed (predation assessment) for each species after receiving one of the following treatments: 1) no prior deltamethrin exposure before the predation assessment (control); 2) deltamethrin exposure immediately before the predation assessment (resistance); and 3) deltamethrin exposure five days before the predation assessment (recovery). Extrapolating from these species-specific measures of resistance and recovery, we predicted the resilience of community level predation to insecticide exposure for predator communities associated with 256 arable fields in the UK. There was large variation in sub-lethal effects of the insecticide between even closely related species. This ranged from species showing no change in predation rates following sub-lethal insecticide exposure (high resistance), species showing only immediate depressed feeding rates after 24 hrs (high recovery), or those with depressed feeding rates after five days (low resistance and recovery). The community level analysis showed that resistance and recovery of natural pest control was predicted by both community phylogenetic diversity (positively) and weighted mean body mass (negatively). However, the removal of numerically dominant species from the analysis modified these effects. Synthesis and applications. Our results highlight the role of community diversity in maintaining the resilience of natural pest control following insecticide use. Importantly, less diverse assemblages dominated by predator species that show low resilience to insecticide exposure, may show a greater depression in pest control than diverse assemblages under insecticide based farmland management.

opencc-zeroSep 2020View details →

The shape of the predator biomass distribution affects biological pest control services in agricultural landscapes

1. Understanding how community composition of service-providing organisms affects ecosystem functioning is a key challenge in ecology. Although it has been proposed that taxonomic diversity and functional traits mediate this relationship, how several facets of community structure affect the delivery of key ecosystem services remains to be explored. 2. In this study, we investigated how abundance, taxonomic richness as well as the shape of biomass distribution in predator communities affect biological pest control services in vineyard landscapes. Our analyses were based on a dataset combining samples of arthropod predators, measures of predation rates of grape pests and characterization of environmental covariables for 42 fields located in South-Western France. 3. We found that beside the abundance or the taxonomic richness of predators, the shape of biomass distribution (mean, variance, skewness and kurtosis of the distribution) influences the level of biological control. Predator communities largely dominated by low biomass species provided the bulk of biological control services. Lower levels of predation resulted from increased proportions of large biomass species and more evenly distributed biomass values in the communities. 4. Our results indicate that the top-down control provided by low biomass species decreases as the relative proportion of large biomass species increases in the predator community. This suggests that biological control may be affected by negative interactions (e.g., intraguild predation, behavioural interactions) between predators arising from the recruitment of large individuals in the community. 5. Our study revealed that the shape of biomass distribution is a major aspect of functional diversity in predator communities providing insights into the mechanisms that link biodiversity and ecosystem services. While our study focuses on biomass, considering other traits involved in trophic interactions may increase our ability to predict the level of biological control in ecosystems.

opencc-zeroSep 2020View details →

Data from: Spotting the pests of tomorrow - Sampling designs for detection of species associations with woody plants

Aim: Early warning against potentially harmful organisms of woody plant species can be achieved by sampling sentinel plants in exporting countries. However, it is unclear where sentinel plants can best be located, and how many samples are required and when and how often sampling optimally should take place for the adequate assessment of the biodiversity associated with the target plant species. We aimed to review spatial and temporal factors affecting associate biodiversity of single woody plant species and to develop guidance for the design of global biodiversity sampling studies. Location: Worldwide. Taxon: Insects and Fungi. Methods: Literature about factors affecting the diversity of insects and fungi in association with single plant species on global, regional, local and different temporal scales was reviewed. Case studies of insect and fungal diversity, primarily collected on single plant species, and the cost of collecting and analysing samples from locations around the world were analysed. Results: The review of the literature illustrated various factors affecting diversity, and the case studies allowed quantification of the relative impact of some spatial, temporal and financial aspects on captured biodiversity and, thus, illustrate the need to consider all possible factors that may affect the result of the sampling when deciding on a sampling design. Main conclusions: Our study illustrates the factors that should be considered when deciding on the location and timing of sampling for sentinel plants, which is important because of the trade-off between the number of samples and sampling locations needed to detect many of the species which may be potential pests, and the cost of (repeated) sampling in many locations. Decisions about the sampling design must be based on the objective of the sampling, but our recommendations apply irrespective of the targeted plant species or country.

opencc-zeroOct 2020View details →

Evaluating a trait-based approach to compare natural enemy and pest communities in agroforestry versus arable systems

Diversified farming systems, for example those that incorporate agroforestry elements, have been proposed as a solution that could maintain and improve multiple ecosystem services. However, habitat diversification in and around arable fields has complex and inconsistent effects on invertebrate crop pests and their natural enemies. This hinders the development of policy recommendations to promote the adoption of such management strategies for the provision of natural pest control services. Here, for the first time we conducted a trait-based approach to investigate the effect of farming system on plant, invertebrate herbivore and invertebrate natural enemy communities. We then evaluated this approach by comparing the results to those generated using a traditional taxonomic approach. At each of three working farms, we sampled within an agroforestry field (a diverse farming system comprising alleys of arable crops separated by tree rows), and within a paired non-diversified area of the farm (arable control field). Each of 96 sample points was sampled between eight and ten times, yielding 393,318 invertebrate specimens from 344 taxonomic groups. Diet specialization or granivory, lack of a pupal stage, and wing traits in invertebrates, along with late flowering, short flowering duration, creeping habit and perenniality in plants, were traits more strongly associated with agroforestry crop alleys than the arable control fields. We hypothesize that this is a result of reduced habitat disturbance and increased habitat complexity in the agroforestry system. Taxonomic richness and diversity were higher in the agroforestry crop alleys compared to the arable control fields, but these effects were stronger at lower trophic levels. However, functional trait diversity of natural enemies was significantly higher in the agroforestry crop alleys than the arable control fields, suggesting an improved level of biocontrol, which was not detected by traditional diversity metrics. Of eight key pest taxa, three were significantly suppressed in the agroforestry system, whilst two were more abundant, compared to the arable control fields. Trait-based approaches can provide a better mechanistic understanding of farming system effects on pests and their natural enemies, therefore we recommend their application and testing in future studies of diversified farming systems.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2020View details →

Dataset used for the submitted manuscript "The hump-shaped effect of plant functional diversity on the biological control of a multi-species pest community"

Dataset

opencc-zeroDec 2020View details →

Enhancing ecosystem services in apple orchards: Nest boxes increase pest control by insectivorous birds

Ecological intensification in croplands aims to enhance biodiversity-based ecosystem services, helping to increase yield while reducing agricultural environmental impacts. Identifying ecological intensification tools of wide applicability and easily implemented by farmers is, therefore, an imperative. Here, we verify the efficiency of provisioning artificial nest boxes for insectivorous birds to reinforce pest biological control in apple orchards. The study was conducted in 24 cider-apple orchards in Asturias (NW Spain) over three years. We compared the effect of insectivorous birds between orchards with and without nest boxes occupied by different bird species, through insectivory estimates based on attack on a sentinel pest and measurements of arthropod abundance in apple trees. We also identified preys that birds of different species captured to feed nestlings. Bird occupancy of nest boxes was widespread, ranging 25.0-33.3% each year. Great tit was the dominant species, followed by blue tit and, occasionally, common redstart. Predation pressure on apple pests increased in orchards with nest boxes, as judged by the increased proportion of sentinel models attacked by birds (34.9% increase in 2018 and 41.1% in 2019), decreased biomass of tree-dwelling arthropods (-51.7%) and reduced probability of apple pest occurrence (from 57 to 40%), compared to orchards without nest boxes. Nesting species showed different predatory roles in apple orchards. Fewer attacks on sentinel pests but lower arthropod biomass was associated with blue tit rather than great tit. Besides, blue tit fed nestlings at a faster rate and included in their diet a higher proportion of apple pests than great tit, which preyed mostly on other herbivorous insects. Synthesis and applications. We demonstrated the usefulness of nest boxes for insectivorous birds in enhancing biological control of apple pests at a regional scale, identifying tit species as complementary predators of apple pests and herbivores. From the farmers' perspective, providing nest boxes in orchards may represent an efficient, easy to implement, cheap and attractive measure of ecological intensification, compatible with other actions fostering biodiversity in croplands.

opennotspecifiedDec 2020View details →

FIGURES 1–6 in A new species of Bithoracochaeta Stein (Diptera: Muscidae) with comments on Mexican species of the genus and their implication as possible biocontrol agents for greenhouses pests

FIGURES 1–6. Bithoracochaeta couriae sp. nov. 1. Male, lateral view of thorax showing setae on anepisternum and katepisternum. 2. Male, sternite 5. 3-6. Male terminalia (Holotype). 3. Cercal plate, surstyli and epandrium, dorsal view. 4. Cercal plate, surstyli and epandrium, left lateral view. 5. Aedeagus, dorsal view. 6. Aedeagus, lateral view. Abbreviations: Aede= aedeagus; Anst= anepisternum; Cept= cercal plate; Epan= epandrium; Pregt= pregonite; Hypa= hypandrium; Ktst= katepisternum; Surs= surstylus.

opennotspecifiedDec 2020View details →

FIGURES 7–8 in A new species of Bithoracochaeta Stein (Diptera: Muscidae) with comments on Mexican species of the genus and their implication as possible biocontrol agents for greenhouses pests

FIGURES 7–8. Bithoracochaeta couriae sp. nov. 7. Male feeding upside down. 8. Female feeding on Psychodidae.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2020View details →

Optimized composite microspheres containing spinosad and an attractant for control of a fruit fly pest

These original data and analysis graph are for the manuscript titled "Optimized composite microspheres containing spinosad and an attractant for control of a fruit fly pest". If readers are interested in this paper, you can email to me and discuss the result. Also, we wecolme the coopertion on the fruit fly control program and techniques.

opennotspecifiedAug 2020View details →

PLATE 1 in Empoasca fabalis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae): first report of an invasive pest of sweet potatoes in Portugal (Madeira Island)

PLATE 1. Female of Empoasca fabalis (A). Fore wing venation of Empoascini of Madeira: E. fabalis (B); E. alsiosa (C); A. decedens (D); Morphotype A (E); Morphotype B (F); Morphotype C (G). Damage caused by E. fabalis to the leaves of sweet potatoes (H, I).

opencc-zeroJan 2021View details →

Birds suppress pests in corn but release them in soybean crops within a mixed prairie/agriculture system

Birds provide ecosystem services (pest control) in many agroecosystems and have neutral or negative ecological effects (disservices) in others. Large-scale, conventional row crop agriculture is extremely widespread globally, yet few studies of bird effects take place in these agroecosystems. We studied indirect effects of insectivorous birds on corn and soybean crops in fields adjacent to a prairie in Illinois (USA). We hypothesized that prairie birds would forage for arthropods in adjacent crop fields and that the magnitude of services or disservices would decrease with distance from the prairie. We used bird-excluding cages over crops to examine the net effect of birds on corn and soybean grain yield. We also conducted DNA metabarcoding to identify arthropod prey in fecal samples from captured birds. Our exclosure experiments revealed that birds provided net services in corn and net disservices in soybeans. Distance from prairie was not a significant predictor of exclosure treatment effect in either crop. Many bird fecal samples contained DNA from both beneficial arthropods and known economically-significant pests of corn, but few economically-significant pests of soybeans. Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia), one of our most captured species, most commonly consumed corn rootworms, an economically-significant pest of corn crops. We estimated that birds in this system provided a service worth approximately US $275/ha in corn yield gain, and a disservice valued at approximately $348/ha in soybean yield loss. Our study is the first to demonstrate that birds can provide substantial and economically valuable services in field corn, and disservices in soybean crops. The contrasting findings in the two crop systems suggest a range of bird impacts within widespread agro-ecosystems and demonstrate the importance of quantifying net trophic effects.

opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: Nectar accessibility determines fitness, flower choice and abundance of hoverflies that provide natural pest control

1. In modern agricultural landscapes many organisms providing ecosystem services such as pollination and natural pest control are likely constrained by shortage of nectar and/or pollen required for adult nutrition. More and more flower-rich field margin strips and other habitats are created to eliminate these constraints. For most target organisms, however, it is not well known which (types of) flowers are effective in providing suitable pollen and nectar. 2. We studied the suitability of a wide range of flowers as a food source for zoophagous hoverflies (hoverflies with predatory larvae) at five different levels: nectar accessibility (based on flower morphology), realized adult fitness, flower choice (both based on cage experiments), flower visitation, and hoverfly abundance in mixed vegetation (both based on field observations). 3. Realized survival of Episyrphus balteatus is related to effective flower depth by a sigmoid function. The critical flower depth is 1.6 mm, which is less than the proboscis size of the hoverfly. For Asteraceae the critical floret depth is even less than 1.0 mm, which – in contrast to common knowledge – rules out most species within this family. 4. Both flower choice in the laboratory and flower visitation rates in the field are well correlated with nectar accessibility and realized adult survival. 5. In mixed floral vegetation the number of zoophagous hoverflies is highly correlated with the abundance of only those flowers that have accessible nectar for these hoverflies. 6. Synthesis and applications. This comparative study demonstrates that nectar (and not pollen) accessibility is the main driver determining flower resource suitability, flower choice and abundance of zoophagous hoverflies in arable field margins. The study identifies the limited range of plant species that can effectively support these beneficial insects. Preserving the right flowers in and around agricultural fields could enhance local populations and the pest control and pollination services they provide.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: Introgressive replacement of natives by invading Arion pest slugs

Hybridization with invasive species is one of the major threats to the phenotypic and genetic persistence of native organisms worldwide. Arion vulgaris (syn. lusitanicus) is a major agricultural pest slug that successfully invaded many European countries in recent decades, but its impact on closely related native species remains unclear. Here, we hypothesized that the regional decline of native A. rufus is connected with the spread of invasive A. vulgaris, and tested whether this can be linked to hybridization between the two species by analyzing 625 Arion sp. along altitudinal transects in three regions in Switzerland. In each region, we observed clear evidence of different degrees of genetic admixture, suggesting recurrent hybridization beyond the first generation. We found spatial differences in admixture patterns that might reflect distinct invasion histories among the regions. Our analyses provide a landscape level perspective for the genetic interactions between invasive and native animals during the invasion. We predict that without specific management action, A. vulgaris will further expand its range, which might lead to local extinction of A. rufus and other native slugs in the near future. Similar processes are likely occurring in other regions currently invaded by A. vulgaris.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Can novel pest outbreaks drive ecosystem transitions in northern-boreal birch forest?

1. The boreal biome exhibits distinct alternative ecosystem states with high and low levels of tree-cover. Insect outbreaks facilitated by climate warming could potentially drive transitions from high to low tree-cover states. We investigated whether two key premises for such outbreak-induced transitions – critical thresholds (tipping points) and positive feedbacks that could maintain alternative states – are present in the northern-boreal mountain birch forest of Fennoscandia. Here, climate warming has promoted range expansions of defoliating geometrid moths, resulting in novel, severe multispecies outbreaks, most recently during 2002-2010. 2. We conducted regional-scale field surveys of forest damage and recovery in 280 mountain birch stands in a northeast Norway immediately after the outbreak (2010) and six years later (2016). Satellite-derived time series of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) provided an index of stand defoliation during the outbreak period. 3. The proportion of dead stems per stand displayed a bimodal distribution, with stands generally being either lightly or severely damaged. This was due to a critical threshold in the relationship between defoliation and stem mortality, with mortality rates increasing abruptly in stands experiencing a mean drop in NDVI of more than 4 % during the outbreak. The two key forest regenerative pathways – basal sprouting and sapling production – both displayed positive feedbacks with surviving stems and trees, so that regeneration success declined with increasing damage to the mature tree layer. These feedbacks imply that stands which have been forced across critical defoliation thresholds and suffered collapses of living tree cover may struggle to recover, especially if the loss of positive regenerative feedbacks is compounded by ungulate browsing on birch recruits. 4. Synthesis. The north Fennoscandian mountain birch forest displays critical thresholds and positive feedbacks that conform to theoretical expectations for a system that could be vulnerable to abrupt and persistent changes of state in the face of novel, climatically facilitated insect outbreaks. These findings deepen the understanding of the persistent losses of tree-cover that have occasionally been observed after outbreaks in this system in the past, and adds to the list of mechanisms that could help explain the bistability of tree-cover across the boreal biome.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: Pythons, parasites and pests: anthropogenic impacts on Sarcocystis (Sarcocystidae) transmission in a multi-host system

Parasites are essential components of ecosystems and can be instrumental in maintaining host diversity and populations; however, their role in trophic interactions has often been overlooked. Three apicomplexan parasite species of Sarcocystis (S. singaporensis, S. zamani, and S. villivillosi) use the reticulated python as their definitive hosts and several species within the Rattus genus as intermediate hosts, and they form a system useful for studying interactions between host–parasite and predator–prey relationships, as well as anthropogenic impacts on parasite transmission. Based on predictions from a 1998 survey, which detected an inverse relationship between urban development and Sarcocystis infection in Rattus, we tested the hypothesis that Sarcocystis transmission in Singapore will decrease over time due to anthropogenic activities. Despite a large proportion of the reticulated python diet consisting of Rattus species at all sizes of pythons, Sarcocystis infection rates decreased from 1998 to 2010. Pythons found in industrial areas had lower Sarcocystis infection rates, particularly in the western industrial area of Singapore Island. Average python size also decreased, with implications that we predict may disrupt host–parasite relationships. Anthropogenic activities such as habitat modification, fragmentation, and systematic removal and translocation of pythons have negative impacts on Sarcocystis transmission in Singapore, which in turn may augment pest rat populations. Trends observed may ultimately have negative impacts on human health and biodiversity in the region.